Posts Tagged ‘Job descriptions’

I recently met with a friend who has been unemployed for over two years. This is how the deck stacks against her; she is now 60, her specialty in her profession served a very narrow market and has never had to look for employment in her field as she was always employed.
She feels confident on interviews in her field, however, has not been able to “close the sale” leading to employment.

She has learned about a position that has the following requirements: extensive research, reach out to people in social and business network and possible fundraising.

– This person loves to research and this requirement is a perfect fit and the results delivered will exceed expectations. Perfect function for an introvert requiring an attention to the details, identifying the relevant information and connecting the information. A logical and analytical approach rounds out her qualifications. Additionally, quite easy to get along with and is a collaborative team player working independently to deliver her part to the whole.

– Reach out to people in social and business network – this requirement requires someone to initiate meetings with personal contacts for the purpose of sharing a new initiative. This poses a little bit of discomfort but can be managed with some coaching and practice. The good news is this person can use her strong interest in this initiative and social skills with familiar people to introduce this exciting new opportunity.

– Fundraising – This is the unbalanced part as it requires an “extraverted” personality that loves meeting people and asking for money. This is just not a good fit for her, this role would be like asking her to push a full shopping cart uphill. It is like asking a superb fundraiser to spend her time in a room with a computer researching all day.

So, I hope this blog post attracts the attention of those in a position to define job requirements to consider the “balance” of those requirements and avoid mixing in elements that don’t make sense. And, please give those older and wiser unemployed people a break, you won’t be disappointed.